Escaping the Drift: How to Make the World Happen for You, Not to You

Gafford, real estate entrepreneur and podcast host, debuts with a derivative guide to identifying and addressing barriers to personal success. He argues “nothing in life is more dangerous than existing without direction.” People who “drift” through life let external circumstance dictate choice and numb out instead of realizing they can improve their situation. Drawing on his own path from working as a general manager at Hooters to “building multiple seven-figure businesses,” he offers strategies for proactively charting a way forward, offering tips on how to find the right mentor (position the relationship as a partnership where both parties benefit), get out of a rut (recognize problems aren’t life sentences; they have solutions), and set attainable goals (keep them simple and succinct). While Gafford brings personal flair to his framework, notably when sharing how he implements his life advice with his own kids and details his experience with depression, his advice often comes across as trite and lacking nuance. Rather than acknowledging the myriad systemic issues that hold people back, he presents all problems as fixable, doling out stereotypical motivational phrases like “Don’t let the world happen to you. You happen to the world.” Readers will find little to latch on to here. (Nov.)